Mrinalini Rajagopalan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226283470
- eISBN:
- 9780226331898
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226331898.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Starting in the 1930s the Jama Masjid was frequently coopted for anti-colonial demonstrations. As one of the few spaces in the city outside of British surveillance, the courtyard of the mosque ...
More
Starting in the 1930s the Jama Masjid was frequently coopted for anti-colonial demonstrations. As one of the few spaces in the city outside of British surveillance, the courtyard of the mosque brought together Hindus and Muslims united in their struggle for self-determination. This chapter looks at the enduring history of the Jama Masjid as a space and symbol of Indian nationalism and traces the anxious responses of the colonial government to such unexpected appropriations.Less
Starting in the 1930s the Jama Masjid was frequently coopted for anti-colonial demonstrations. As one of the few spaces in the city outside of British surveillance, the courtyard of the mosque brought together Hindus and Muslims united in their struggle for self-determination. This chapter looks at the enduring history of the Jama Masjid as a space and symbol of Indian nationalism and traces the anxious responses of the colonial government to such unexpected appropriations.
Mrinalini Rajagopalan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226283470
- eISBN:
- 9780226331898
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226331898.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Building Histories traces the lives of five monuments in Delhi—Red Fort; Rasul Numa Dargah; Jama Masjid; Purana Qila; and the Qutb Complex—from the mid-nineteenth century to the twentieth century. ...
More
Building Histories traces the lives of five monuments in Delhi—Red Fort; Rasul Numa Dargah; Jama Masjid; Purana Qila; and the Qutb Complex—from the mid-nineteenth century to the twentieth century. Each monument is explored in an individual chapter, which considers the various appropriations of its history, function, and symbolism by state (colonial and postcolonial) and non-state actors. The starting point for this discussion is the mid-nineteenth century when institutionalized preservation cemented the histories, uses, symbolism, and stewardship of monuments within a rigid archive policed by colonial and later national bureaucracies. Yet this archive was and continues to be constantly interrupted and challenged by affect—the emotive economy generated around the monument at various points in time. It is at this intersection of archival “truths” and affective “passions” that the book charts the changing lives of these five monuments. In doing so it reveals the profoundly mutable histories of these monuments—histories that transformed non-linearly over time; histories generated by unexpected co-optations and urgent inhabitations; and histories authored by various actors often with competing agendas. Building Histories is a book about the histories of buildings; it is also a meditation on the building of histories through these monuments.Less
Building Histories traces the lives of five monuments in Delhi—Red Fort; Rasul Numa Dargah; Jama Masjid; Purana Qila; and the Qutb Complex—from the mid-nineteenth century to the twentieth century. Each monument is explored in an individual chapter, which considers the various appropriations of its history, function, and symbolism by state (colonial and postcolonial) and non-state actors. The starting point for this discussion is the mid-nineteenth century when institutionalized preservation cemented the histories, uses, symbolism, and stewardship of monuments within a rigid archive policed by colonial and later national bureaucracies. Yet this archive was and continues to be constantly interrupted and challenged by affect—the emotive economy generated around the monument at various points in time. It is at this intersection of archival “truths” and affective “passions” that the book charts the changing lives of these five monuments. In doing so it reveals the profoundly mutable histories of these monuments—histories that transformed non-linearly over time; histories generated by unexpected co-optations and urgent inhabitations; and histories authored by various actors often with competing agendas. Building Histories is a book about the histories of buildings; it is also a meditation on the building of histories through these monuments.
